


Cinnamon Swirl Bread

by tinybox



Series: unreality_strikes_back.exe [14]
Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Secret Crush, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:20:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22763101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinybox/pseuds/tinybox
Summary: Natsuki reacts oddly to Kaito's poem.
Series: unreality_strikes_back.exe [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619047
Kudos: 4





	Cinnamon Swirl Bread

***Load**

"Okay, everyone!" Monika calls out, "Are you ready to share your poems?"

"I guess so," I say with a shrug. 

Ẅ̷̩̘̹̖̦̫͚͉̯͎̮̙̰͉͆̐͂̎͠ȟ̵͇̬͚̞̲̟̱̩̻̙̭͚̠̣̫̇̄̌̋̈̐͊̄̚͘͝ǒ̸͚̰̮̼͉̟̥̼͖̝͒͝ ̴̩͓̹̠̰̪͚̟̜̏̎̍̐̓͗̔̓͋̉̿͜͠s̶̛̮̫̘͇̹̜̳̥̞̝͌̅̎͋͝͝h̸͎̠͍̐̅̎̽̈́̆̃́̊͠ǒ̶̘̦̆̂͌̽̑̓u̴̡̨͈̩̥̗͔͔̻̭͙̜̤͎̎̇͑̔̽͌̿͜͝l̸̡̢̧̻̫̖̩͕̭͉̳̙̮͙͐̇̑̾͠ͅd̴̫̻̫̲̹̟̘̠ ̵̛͓̙̳͎̬͚̰̰̼̯͉̬͒͂͒̊̀̇̐͐̓̚͝I̵̢̢͔̙̟̝͇̻͆̉͛̇̉̓̔̐̅̂̇̄̚͝ ̶̥͎̃̔̈́͑̆s̵͍̘̙̼̓͒̇͑̀̌̊͝ḩ̶̡̼͈̳̬̱͎̯̔̑̾̈̋͂̓͒͒̉͌̉̚͝ͅo̸̟͈͓̫̫̓̈́̀w̷̛̗͇̗̭̓̽̑ ̸͈̫̦̻̮̺͔͋̔͜m̷̡͍͓̻̱͍̮̫̪͕͕͉̙̪̜̀̓̊͐͊͂y̸̳͇̰͖͇̫̩̅͊̍̋̈́̓̆̅̀͛̽̿̀̕͝ͅ ̸̼͙͎͍̼̈̆̋́̈́̐̍͒̄̚͠͝͝ͅp̸̳̖͔̫̲̙̣͖̦̙̗̂͋̐̓̐ơ̶͙̮͙͚̩̖͚̗̲̱̺̗̦̝͉̅̐͆̒̂̈́̈́̈́͗̕̕͝ể̵͔̗͎̯̙͙͈͇̖̘̬̬͈͠m̴̱̕ ̶̢̫͆̀̑̔͊̐̎͛̒͑͂̏t̴̢̢̝̟͕͈̲̃͛͐͋̎̉͐̂̅͆̑ợ̶̤̰̪̥͚̯̜̤̲̞̳̘͚̈́̑͆̈́̈́̍̐͋̕͘̕̕͠ ̸̡̩̪̩̭̝̪͖̝̗̞̹̲̓̐̾̆̈̋̍̑̑͋͘f̷̳̹͗i̵̲̼̬̝̼̓̾͊͑̏̇̈́ͅŗ̸̛̝͔̭̪̼̪͉̤̮̫̣̤̿̽͂͛̚ͅs̷̖͕̥̳̺̪̦̣͖̹̙̓̒̒̏̄̀̄̆̽͜͠t̵̢̡̧̘͇̞͓͓̤̳̪̯̝͉̔̽̐̆ͅ?̸̡̧̛̮͚͍̈́̉̓͊̀͑̉͆̍͌͝

Ş̶̱͈͓͇̣͓̗̆̐̾̽̊͘͝a̴̧̛̦͚̣̜̻̎̃̂̄͐̓͑́̉̕y̶̗͓̖̌̍̍ô̷̡̜͈̭͇̖͒́͑̂͐͛͆̃ŕ̶̜̭̜̫͕̬͍̥̌̊̐̃͠į̴̣̲̭̦̬̼͖̹̱̣̲͖͔̩̏

Ņ̸̧̺̭͍͈͓̜̣̝̠͈̓̒͛͐͜͝a̷̧͚̣̺̐ͅţ̵̢̡̛̩̟͇̻̪̜͗͑̓͊̄̆̍̐̕͜s̶͈͎̣̰͐̂̿̅̈́̔͆̍͆͝u̵̡̢̘̣̫͉͉̜̙̹̱̬͕̦̟͒̉̓k̸̢̨̢̻̰̙̺̹̙͇̥̱͓̣͂͗i̷̢̬̝̞̎̀̾͂͆͠

Y̵̭̳̬̞̻̬̝͈̯͔͐̿̃̎̌̄̐̈́̐͂̃͠ͅͅu̸̢̡̡͓̜̝̗̞̣̘̳̻͑͐̎̅͜r̴̨͇̤̠͇̃̀̋͑̈́̾̉̑̉̑̋͊̕͝i̴̺̳̻̍

M̶̧̩̝̹̊o̸̧̟̫̺̱̤̭͈̱͒̀͊̎̌̎̚ͅņ̶͈̙̩̃͑́̀͗̈́̑͝͝i̷̡̨̹̩͇̓̇k̸͙̗̝̹̫͖͇̫͖̬͇̪͈̻̆͆̈́̇͒̌̚̚͘ã̸̡̺̦͖̳͚͓̹̗̺̄̌̏̂͐̑͜͠ͅͅ

As Natsuki reads my poem, she keeps alternating between glancing at me, and then back at the page. By now, she must have read it three or four times, but she still isn't saying anything. 

I fight the urge to start twiddling my thumbs.

There's a sour expression on Natsuki's face as she grumbles, "Rrgh...are you _serious?!_ "

A pit forms in my stomach. "Was it really that bad?"

Natsuki is clenching her fists when she exclaims, "No! No, it's not!"

"You don't have to be nice if you don't-"

Looking away, she bites out through gritted teeth, "It's good. It's really good, okay?!? There, I said it!" 

"Th-"

"Ugh, this wasn't supposed to happen at all...! Why can't you just be bad at this? My poems are supposed to impress _you_ , not the other way around!"

For a second, my brain short-circuits. 

"...You're trying to impress me?"

"Obviously!" Natsuki huffs. "You think I'd let you enjoy Yuri's writing more than mine? Give me a break."

My face is starting to warm. "Well...in that case, what's so wrong about me wanting to impress you?"

"I'll tell you!" Natsuki retorts, "You-"

Her face suddenly freezes, like she just realized something. "Y-Y-You..." she stammers, "you're trying to impress _me?_ "

My face is burning. "Y-yeah."

Natsuki vigorously scans her eyes over my poem one more time. 

Then, the poem slips out of her hands onto the floor. 

"I...have to use the bathroom!" 

Red-faced, Natsuki practically sprints out of the room.

_Did I do something wrong?_

_...Or did she suddenly have to take a dump?_

_Both?!_

I stare at the empty doorway, not really sure what to do next. 

"Kaito? Did you do something to Natsuki? I just saw her rush out like that...you didn't do anything terrible, did you?"

It's Monika. 

_I did **not** hear her coming...she must have really silent shoes or something._

"N-No! We were just talking about our poems! And I said, um..."

My voice gets caught in my throat. 

Spotting my poem on the ground, Monika swiftly picks it up.

"Hmm?"

She reads through it, her smile not fading from her face. 

I scuff the toe of my shoe against the floor.

"I see," Monika eventually says. "You wrote this for Natsuki, didn't you?"

My face feels like it's on fire. "I-I mean...sort of? I guess?"

"In fact," Monika begins, "didn't she like your poem a lot the other day, too? I'm surprised you know her tastes so well already." 

Looking at me straight in the eyes, she asks, "Are you sure you're not cheating, Kaito?"

"...After you mentioned that her style was a lot like Shel Silverstein's, I, well, um, um...went out and bought a bunch of his books at the used bookstore," I admit. "Does that count as cheating?"

Monika looks...stunned?

"Never mind," she says quickly, "I'm just kidding." 

_That's kind of a weird joke to make._

_What did she even have in mind when she asked me if I was cheating?_

"Anyway..." Monika continues, "how do you think Natsuki feels about you?"

I consider the question. 

Before I can respond, Monika says, "Oh, you don't need to answer that. It was just something for you to think about."

_Okay?_

"Hey!" Natsuki shouts, coming up and snatching my poem out of Monika's hands. "Did you read this Monika?"

Monika smiles sweetly. "Of course! I liked it!"

"Ugh..." Natsuki groans, "you should really stop reading things that aren't for you, you know. You have a bad habit of doing that."

Monika startles. "Eh? But Kaito wrote the poem. And we're supposed to share with everyone, right?"

Natsuki freezes, clearly at a loss for words.

"Well," I quickly say, "I haven't yet read Natsuki's poem."

"Yeah!" Natsuki adds. "Besides, I think Kaito is done sharing this poem. It's not like anyone else would want to read this anyway. In fact, I'm just going to hold onto this."

"If you insist," Monika says with a small giggle.

Natsuki's face flushes as she hurriedly looks back and forth at me and Monika. "Why are you looking at me like that??" she snaps. 

"Like what?" Monika asks innocently.

"Ugh..." Natsuki grumbles, looking away. "Never mind."

_Well, I guess Natsuki has my poem now._

_Not that I really planned on keeping it._

"Anyway," Natsuki says, "read my poem now. And no, I won't let you keep it. This is my only copy."

_**Amy Likes Spiders** _

_You know what I heard about Amy?_   
_Amy likes spiders._   
_Icky, wriggly, hairy, ugly spiders!_   
_That's why I'm not friends with her._

_Amy has a cute singing voice._   
_I heard her singing my favorite love song._   
_Every time she sang the chorus, my heart would pound to the rhythm of the words._   
_But she likes spiders._   
_That's why I'm not friends with her._

_One time, I hurt my leg really bad._   
_Amy helped me up and took me to the nurse._   
_I tried not to let her touch me._   
_She likes spiders, so her hands are probably gross._   
_That's why I'm not friends with her._

_Amy has a lot of friends._   
_I always see her talking to people._   
_She probably talks about spiders._   
_What if her friends start to like spiders too?_   
_That's why I'm not friends with her._

_It doesn't matter if she has other hobbies._   
_It doesn't matter if she keeps it private._   
_It doesn't matter if it doesn't hurt anyone._

_It's gross._   
_She's gross._   
_The world is better off without spider lovers._

_And I'm gonna tell everyone._

"Not bad, right?" Natsuki says with a cheeky smile.

I nod. "It's a bit longer than yesterday's, though," I comment. 

Natsuki rolls her eyes. "Yesterday's was way too short...I was just warming up! I hope you didn't think that was the best I could do."

"No, of course not..."

_I don't think her poem from yesterday was too short, but I'm not going to argue with her about something so trivial._

"Anyway," Natsuki continues, "the message is pretty straightforward in this poem. I doubt I have to explain it. Sometimes you can explain complicated issues with much simpler analogies...and it helps people realize how stupid they're being. Like, anyone would agree that the subject of this poem is being an ignorant jerk, you know?"

"Totally," I agree. "Do you know anyone like that in real life?"

"Of course. It's about how everyone thinks my-" Natsuki flushes, crossing her arms. "...That doesn't matter! It can be about anything! I wrote it to be easy to relate to...everyone has some kind of weird hobby, or a guilty pleasure. Something that you're afraid if people find out, they'll make fun of you or think less or you."

Natsuki scowls. "But that just makes people stupid! Who cares what people like, as long as they're not hurting anyone, and it makes them happy? I think people really need to learn to respect others for liking weird things..."

"Well, you're definitely right. At least, I can relate to that. And I'm sure a lot of other people can, too."

"You know..." Natsuki begins thoughtfully, "I'm glad you can appreciate this kind of writing. I mean, I know I was talking about that yesterday. But I've been...well, I've been enjoying sharing my writing with you, so...so consider yourself lucky, okay?"

"Ahaha. Well, thanks for being honest."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsuki asks indignantly. "I'm always honest!" 

Natsuki huffs. "Jeez...just look forward to tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, I will."

 ***Save**


End file.
